Facing questions from an opposition lawmaker Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe refused to comment on the government's position on wartime sex slaves, but he did say he feels "heart-breaking pain" when he thinks of how their human rights were violated.

"In this sense, I'm no different than all of the prime ministers of the past. I don't think this issue should be made into a political or diplomatic problem," Abe told a Lower House session, answering questions from Japanese Communist Party chief Kazuo Shii about the "comfort women" issue.

"In history, there have been many wars and the human rights of women have been violated. It's necessary to make the 21st century a century without human right violations," he said.